


Balance

by Serenade



Category: Seafort Saga - David Feintuch
Genre: M/M, Peril, Rescue, Self-Sacrifice, Yuletide Treat, everybody lives au, mountain climbing, rivals to allies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenade/pseuds/Serenade
Summary: Giving orders is easy. Making friends is hard. Making friends make friends is hardest of all.
Relationships: Nicholas Seafort/Edgar Tolliver/Vax Holser
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2019





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kangeiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/gifts).



"The rare cloud eagle nests at the peak of the mountain." I looked up from the guidebook. "We can hike there and back in an afternoon."

Edgar turned from the window of the log cabin. He raised an eyebrow. "Throwing yourself up a mountain is your idea of a good time?"

Across the room, in the armchair by the fireplace, Vax stretched. "I think it sounds invigorating."

They looked at me, not each other. Vax was on shore leave from his ship, I had taken vacation from my posting on Earth, and I had wanted Edgar to come along. It had seemed like a good idea then. They had seen me through the darkest of times. I wanted to share a moment of peace with them. Not just memories of blood and death.

Vax and Edgar. Past and present colliding like galaxies. They had spent two days circling like wary cats, sizing each other up, unfailingly polite. What did they have in common after all? Maybe this was a mistake.

We all had cabin fever. We could do with fresh air and fresh perspective. "We're going for a hike."

While we made preparations, Edgar said to me, "Since when do you like mountain climbing?" He meant, _You don't have to do this out of guilt._

It wasn't guilt. It was trying to make up for lost opportunities. Vax and I had wasted so much time being enemies. And then he had almost died at Orbit Station.

I turned the question on Edgar. "Are you saying you don't like mountain climbing?"

"I've done my share. In basic training."

"You don't have to go. This isn't a mission." I wanted him to come, but I had to let him choose.

Vax shot me a challenging look, as he heaved his pack on his broad shoulders. The resentment had burned away in the fire of the crucible, but the sheer determination and competitive streak remained.

Edgar said, "No, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

***

I hauled myself up the mountainside step by slow step, holding the rope that was bolted to the rock face, the harness tugging on my waist. Edgar was just below me, then Vax followed after. My eyes turned skyward, searching for a glimpse of a soaring bird, for the shadow of spread wings.

I called over my shoulder, "We're close to the top--"

A bolt sagged. Pulled free. Took the next one with it. The rope went from slack to taut. Suddenly, the weight of three men on a bolt not meant to support that many.

I flung myself at the rock face, digging in a foothold. Edgar and Vax had not been so fortunate. They hung in midair, above a deadly drop. The guidebook tumbled from my pocket, pages fluttering, to vanish into the depths of the alpine lake far below.

Edgar read the situation at once. "Nick. Get out of here. Get help!"

I shook my head. "I'm not leaving you!"

I hauled with all my might. I barely had strength for one man, let alone two. I looked helplessly from Edgar to Vax. I couldn't abandon them, either of them. The ropes sawed on my shoulders, cutting hard into the flesh. My palms were chafed to bleeding.

"It won't work." Vax unfastened his harness.

"No!" I screamed, as it came free.

Vax held on to the rock face for a handful of seconds, suspended like a dragonfly on a windowpane. Then gravity toppled him backwards, falling, falling, into the depths of the lake.

I stared at the empty harness, fumbling at the straps of my own.

"Don't you dare!" Edgar said, his face white. "Don't let his sacrifice--"

"Don't you talk about him like he's dead!"

I caught my breath in a sob. With agonising slowness, I pulled Edgar up beside me.

He said, "There's a spare line in the emergency kit."

He was always the one who thought ahead and kept his wits. I was grateful. We rappelled down to the rocky shore. I strained to see a human shape in the water. Alpine lakes were deceptively tranquil and bonechillingly cold.

"I'm the stronger swimmer," Edgar said, forestalling me.

I had to admit he was right. He stripped off his shirt and trousers, and dove into the lake. He cut through the icy water with swift strokes, while I waited on the shore, wretched and useless.

Why had I insisted on this ridiculous hiking trip? Edgar had been right, it was my own foolish fancy. I fell to my knees, praying desperately for their safe return. If I lost both of them, through my own folly, I could never forgive myself.

Edgar surfaced like a dolphin, bursting from the water in a shower of spray, dragging a still figure alongside him. With effort, he swam to shore, keeping their heads above water.

I waded in, helping him pull Vax onto shore. He was pale and limp. The impact must have knocked him out. I cradled him in my arms, until he coughed up water.

Vax opened his eyes. Clear relief when he saw me. Then his gaze found Edgar, dripping wet, his normally impeccable hair plastered to his face in damp strands. "Guess I owe you."

Edgar regarded him. "The feeling is mutual." He sighed. "I can't believe there are two of you."

"I don't know what you mean," I said, but I was too thankful to care.

***

The cliff path was too treacherous to take by twilight. We were stuck here till morning. The emergency kit contained a thin silver blanket, for shock or hypothermia. It was currently wrapped around Vax, while Edgar and I fed twigs into the small fire, trying to dry our clothes and warm our cold skin. The kit wasn't designed to outfit a campsite.

We had checked our own equipment. It had been well maintained. The rope climb had been sabotaged. Most likely poachers, wanting the trails to be closed, so they would have free rein to hunt the endangered eagles. If so, they were guilty of attempted murder. I was going to make sure there were consequences.

"I'm sorry I led you both into this," I said, miserably. "I failed to protect you."

"We're grown men--" Vax began.

"--not green cadets," Edgar finished.

Some kind of understanding passed between them, quick as a glance. As though they were making common cause. I had been worried they would ignore each other. Suddenly, I was much more apprehensive they would talk to each other. They were both witness to my worst mistakes and misdeeds, as well as my most intimate secrets. My face heated at the thought.

Edgar looked at me with something like affection. "Follow you up a mountain? This is nothing. I've followed you into hell."

My heart squeezed tight, like it would shatter. I didn't deserve such devotion. Not from anyone. Especially them. There had been a time, with each of them, when I had hated them. Now I would protect them with my life.

A captain could not open himself up the way ordinary men did. There were reasons I could never reach out a hand beyond my pinnacle of stone. And yet. They knew all my faults already. I had nothing to hide from them. It was the kind of closeness I had never dared.

"I'm going to get us out of here," I said. "I promise."

Vax draped the blanket over Edgar and me. "You need this more than I do."

Edgar stretched out an arm to Vax. "He won't get a wink of sleep if he thinks you're freezing to death on a rock. Just get over here."

We all settled down together, curled around each other, in drowsy warmth. Right before I fell asleep, I saw the eagle hovering high above, in the great blue vault of heaven, suspended in a moment of eternity.


End file.
